So much like poor David above, I have succumbed to my weakness of loving food.....but do not fear, I have joined Weight Watchers again and am hoping to lose it all again soon.....before I come home and give you all a fright. For those of you who have done Weigh Less and Weight Watchers before, I was blown away when I went to join. The group meeting is in a shop......and everything is computerised......diet business is huge here....have a look at these pictures of where I go for weigh in and meetings.....
Took the boys down the golf course down the road from our house for a bit of golf....they were having withdrawal symptoms!!! It was 4pm in the afternoon and we could not play as they were having a competition tee off then......it is amazing, people play golf after work because it only gets dark at about 9pm so they can fit in a round of golf quick....so we just went to the driving range and hit a few balls. Our clubs are back home but you can get rental clubs at the pro shop which we used. The boys were very impressed with the rentals.....they even considered not returning them.....that's the South African coming out in them again!!
On Saturday mornings Neil and I take part in a life siege. It involves going to the abortion clinic down here in Kansas City and praying for those unborn babies who are being aborted. By law we are not allowed in the clinic or on the property of the clinic, so we stand on the pavement around the clinic and pray with red tape across our mouths. On the tape it says LIFE! We are praying for life for the unborn babies and for the moms who feel like they have no other option than to abort! We don't speak out loud as the babies don't have a voice .....51 million babies have been aborted in USA since 1973! At the moment an average of 46 million babies are aborted every year across the world. 200 million people were killed in wars across the world in the 20th century but 1 billion babies were aborted in the 20th century.....and that is what is recorded, there is no knowing about the unrecorded abortions. So we stand together in prayer for the ending of abortion across the world. God says he knew you before you were formed in your mothers womb, so when does life begin??
With Spring on the way, I decided to plant a few seedlings in the garden. Found a really stunning nursery that reminded me of Flora Farm, just a whole lot bigger. I had fun shopping for plants I know nothing about....even had to text Tracy Havinga from the store just to let her know I was there and as lost as usual!! It was fun though, very expensive exercise and never made a dent in my garden....which is not even mine actually....so I gave up!!! The plants are very similar to back home....don't ask me for names, I am clueless!!!
Neil and I finally went on our first date night since we have been here. It has been so busy and difficult to find the time, but we decided that no matter what happened we really needed our alone time. Off we go, to Cheesecake Factory. A stunning restaurant in an area in Kansas City called The Plaza. Very pretty, but fancy area of the city. What an amazing dinner, the food was unbelievable......and they have over 50 types of cheesecake to choose from for dessert....like Cheesecake Heaven!!! We really had an amazing dinner and a good time together...........until the bill came!!!
Remember when you look at that bill to multiply by 10 and the minimum tip here is 20%, so that still needs to be added on!!!!South Africans....enjoy your dinners out and appreciate them!!! That will probably be our last! Until we come home that is.....can't wait for a good piece of steak and wors!!!! That I can afford and enjoy without thinking that it just cost me my whole months salary!!!
Yay, finally our baseball season has started! Had our first practice on Thursday....what fun!
And Josh played his first soccer tournament for the club he has been practicing with since March. They are really serious here, you may not join the team half way through the season, so Josh has only been allowed to practice with the squad and not play games. They were very short of players this weekend as it was Memorial Day weekend and lots of people were away.....so Josh cracked the nod to play! We had to very quickly arrange for him to be carded with the US Soccer Ass and get his birth certificate verified, with that all done, he was given his kit and in the team. He was really chuffed when he saw the shirt....exactly like Man U kit.....!! They played two games on Saturday and made it to the semi finals, but lost there! Josh played really well and scored 2 goals in their first game. They had him playing at center back!!!! Can you imagine Josh there......the coach had to keep calling him and saying..."Josh, You're my center back right? Remember to drop Josh.....drop Josh! That's it Josh, drop back....." and then "Ok Josh, good run, someone cover for Josh.......!!! Great goal Josh!!!! Josh...you are my center back right??? " It was quite funny! So he scored both goals from being center back, coach moves him to center mid and then he scores no more!!!!!
Very serious at games....notice the linesman and umpires, 5 yard line for parents and then how well behaved all the parents are on their chairs!!!!! Tryouts for the team's new season are this weekend so Josh is hopefully going to make the team officially and then play for KC Legends!
We all grow up hearing about heaven and hell. We all accept that they exist, but maybe more like in a fantasy type of acceptance. Well, I think that is how I accepted it. But do we really believe that they are real places? I'm not sure that I did.....until yesterday. One of our lecturers at the university here is a lady who was taken to Hell! Now I know to some people that sounds crazy, but God took her in an open vision to Hell, which means you are in the vision, not only seeing pictures and getting messages from God, you are in the vision and can experience feeling, emotion, pain etc, you are there!
We went to a informal presentation yesterday that Neil had arranged where she explained her experience of Hell to us. It was horrific. She said that the amount of pain she experienced there is indescribable, and with the passing of time the pain just increases and gets more severe. And hell is for eternity!!!She felt like her skin was dripping off her, like it was melting! And the screaming of the people there was blood curdling, high pitched piercing screams, went on and on! And it was so dark, a darkness that you cannot explain, so dark that you want to close your eyes to black out the darkness, but you can't close your eyes! There is an inexplicable level of fear around you all the time. When she was there she realised immediately where she was and she understood why she was there! Even though she was a Christian, she was going to hell because she had unforgiveness towards other people (including her husband and family members).....sho, that struck me! Have I not got unforgiveness towards people? But as she pointed out, the bible says very clearly that if we do not forgive those who have sinned against us then our Heavenly Father can't forgive our sins. Just as we pray in the 'Our Father', Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us! Hectic!
So many of us ask....But if God is a loving God how can He send anyone to Hell. He doesn't send anyone to Hell. In fact He made Hell for the devil and his angels, people were never meant to go to hell! It is by not having our sins forgiven that we go there! And Jesus is the only person who can forgive sins as He is the only one who was punished for them but because He had no sin of His own, the grave could not hold him and hence He rose again! Think of it like a parent and a child. When you give your children a set of rules to live by, you expect them to follow those rules....and you spell out the consequences to them that if they do not follow those rules then they will have to endure the consequences. Then when they break the rules you have no choice but to carry out the punishment....even though it breaks your heart to do and you really don't want to because you love them so much and you don't want to see them hurting....you have to do it! We have a choice to ask Jesus to forgive our sins and choose to follow Him and live the way He instructed us to as laid out for us in the Bible and then God becomes our "Father"!
She is just a normal person like you and I, and meeting her I would never have said she had been through an experience like that....she is not a radical, freaked out Christian that is walking around shouting to everyone about hell!! Her encounter happened in 2008 and she has been putting together a website since then to tell everyone about her experience because she believes that is what God wants her to do. She is also writing a book and when it is done she is going to put it on her site so that everyone can read it free of charge. She is not going to sell it at all....she wants it to be a free ebook available to everyone....and she is telling her story in a movie form that she also wants to distribute free of charge. Two major movie companies offered to buy her story from her but she refused! I will let you know the website's name once it is up. She is aiming for July. The experience made such an impact on her that her and her husband have sold everything they own to fund this project, cashed in their policies, everything! By the way, as part of the movie production, she interviewed another 37 people who have had Hell experiences similar to her! There is much more to say but the movie and book will tell it best.
I must admit, it really spoke to me about my life and how I am living.......and what I am NOT doing! I now also realise more how destructive unforgiveness can be in our lives.....we hear people talk about how unforgiveness can eat away at you on the inside...it becomes like a disease that can only hurt you and not just the person you have unforgiveness towards.....WOW!!! And now how much more does it hurt us for eternity?
Only two weeks left til my mom and sister arrive, really looking forward to that. Neil's mom and Paul are also coming to see us in July....so going to be really good times. Weather has improved dramatically...be careful what you wish for...it is so hot now that we have to close all windows and put aircon on!!!! Even when it is only 26 outside, the humidity is high so it feels much hotter! Never happy are we.....love to you all.
